mr neutron

Possibly the bike that one happens to be riding at the moment??? Jimmie

I used to use an old Mikuni main jet for my ignition cover vents. Drill the correct size hole, tap the metric threads, put a dab of sealer in in the threads part of the hole, screw in the main jet, and slide a hose over it. I also used to drill a small hole for water to drain out, as well, somewhere on what appeared to be the very bottom of the cover, I figured if water could get in, I'd give it a way out........ There's defintely simpler/cheaper fixes out there. Jon, what do you use for that fitting? Is it something with a hose barb on it? Back on topic, is it possible at all that the oil he's seeing could be chain oil that got flung up in there somehow? As in maybe there's not a good seal between the cover & the case? Jimmie

Rode my Gas Gas today for a few hours. Made me realize how badly out of shape I am, and how badly this sinus thing/cold/flu/cough has kicked my butt. I was sucking wind like a, uh, like a, well like something that sucks a lot of wind..... Like a bucket of parasites? Like vacuum? I dunno...... I just know I had fun, didn't have to pick my bike up as often as last weekend, and cleaned some stuff that gave me probs other times I've been to this area...... I like my bike...... Jimmie

Be nice to see the TY when it's all done, Andrew! Hope your Trial gets to happen, TLTEL, and hope your bike holds it's vital fluids! Jimmie

Shyted, Thank You, Sir! That was a great, encouraging, positive post, and it's much appreciated! I'm certain I finished last out of a dozen or so riders (results haven't been posted yet....), but that's alright. I'm in this for the opportunity to learn & improve, and stubborn enough to stick it out. But mostly just for fun.... I learned about quite a few areas I'm lacking in skill at riding. Wish I had the chance to ride in rocks more; the only times I get to ride those are normally during a competition. I tried to do a "bunny hop/unload" type of move over a square edged rock about 12" high, coming out of a corner. Got the front over the rock, and was unloading to get the rear wheel over. Got the front wheel stuck on a smaller rock, bike stopped, and I "yard darted" myself over the bars. Kinda augered head first over the bars and into the dirt. Luckily, I fell nicely enough to not really get hurt! So I guess if I learned anything, the ability to fall w/o killing myself has come in handy, hee hee. I'm impressed with how tough these bikes are sometimes...... On topic, the bike has a new shift lever, and some cheap fork guards from the article on page 52 of this month's Trial & Enduro News. Here's a link..... http://www.joomag.com/magazine/trials-enduro-news-february-2014/0557025001390413892 Jimmie

Dadof2, I hope this is taken as respectfully disagreeing. In my view, having ridden trials bikes a little in the 70s (not for very long, and not in competitions), I feel modern bikes are MUCH more reliable than the old bikes. This has been my experience at both mx & off road riding, and no disrespect is intended here to twin shock riders, vintage riders, or any other group of older bike riders. Most of them would tear me a new bung hole in a competiton, being much better riders than I am. But myself, and the majority of folks I ride with with, have no desire to go back to the older, heavier bikes. the liqid cooled top ends, chains, ignitions, carburetors, transmission, tires, clutches are all much better than what most of the older bikes had, and with no weight penalty. Just because you add weight to a bike, it doesn't magically become more reliable. Besides, as often as i crash, I need a light bike to pick up, hee hee,,,,,,, And the next statement may be one that most will find they don't like, but I've never been one to shy a way from confrontation....... I personally don't see that lighter bikes or non-stop trials will save the sport. I feel that in comparison to most any other motorcycle sports, Trials is pretty boring to the non enthusiast, or to new riders, It just flat does not have the draw & "action" that motocross, enduro, road racing, or other disciplines of motorcycle racing have, and maybe never will. I see it as primarily a facet of motorcycling for riders with a certain type of personality. I'm not good a verbalizing exactly what that type of personality is. In my trade I work in, as a machinist, it's necessary to develop a very detail oriented type of mentality to do well at the craft. So it is with Trials, I feel. It has an appeal to riders who appreciate the "finesse" aspect of the sport. Contrast that with the jumping, berm-busting, and airtime of mx, and it's pretty easy to see why young & new riders (and spectators) are drawn to motocross, rather than trials, at least here in the States..... Now, to me, Trials is anything but boring. I realize what a challenge it is, and how hard it is to master. I love those aspects of this riding style. But to most folks out there, if you suggest "Let's go watch an Observed Trials tomorrow", or say "Let's go watch a Supercross tomorrow", which do you think most folks would do? My wife & I met at a motocross track. She is a photography freak, and used to like going to my mx races & practices (to photograph the fast guys, not me....). But getting her to come to Trials is hard. she just feels it's not as exciting to watch as mx, and would rather trail ride than attempt Trials.Trials has to compete with these other types of motorcycle riding, mountain bike riding, other recreational past times, as well as suffer through miserable global economic downturns, lack of riding areas, and things like that..... I don't think weight restrictions will do it. Not convinced non-stop will help much, either. Less expensive bikes, maybe. That would possibly draw folks into Trials if it were cheaper to do than mx, enduro, or whatever else Trials has to compete with these for rider dollars. At my club, it seems like we're having some slow growth, and a bit of that seems to be from offroad/enduro guys that want to use trials as a way to build or improve their offroad skills. I rode with one such guy at our club's event this past weekend. But it seemed as if we had more riders this weekend than we normally do..... Now, these are opinions on my part. I don't mind being proven wrong, and even more so it it drives out a solution that does help increase ridership & sales. Those are the signs of a healthy past time, and we can all agree, we'd like to keep riding. Jimmie

I rode a dry, good traction trial last Sunday (the 26th of Jan.). I "moved myself up" to the Intermediate class from the novice class, in what I'd hoped would force me to improve my riding skill. I think I spent more time picking myself & the bike up during this last event than I ever have....... I may have been a little too hasty to go up to the next higher class. But I did learn (several) things I need to practice...... I broke a shift lever when I started the third loop, and rode the whole thing in 1st gear. Got the new shift lever(s) (ordered a spare lever) tonight when I got home from work, plus a new airbox! My original airbox got broke, & then fixed similar to how totty79 described his fender got repaired. My fender will still be the plastic welded one, with a new one sitting as a spare. Other than that, it's been engine-off balance practice and clutch squeezes...... Jimmie

I'm confused & wondering who some of you folks ride with..... I cannot recall anyone, ever, come riding up to myself or anyone else, and saying "Gee.... I wish I had a heavier bike!" Nor can I recall anyone else using their light bike as an excuse for five-ing a section, or for dropping a position at an event.... I ride at a very low skill level, but can't see how a heavier bike would make that any better, for myself, or those competing at much higher levels. If this isn't an attempt to allow Honda/Montesa what they feel is a more "level playing field", I'd be surprised. If it's an attempt by the FIM to help, or somehow "revive the sport", I seriously doubt that it will work. Meddling by the FIM to save the sport, or even the idea that manufacturers want the FIM to help increase sales, cracks me up. It seems somewhat akin to Chevy & Ford asking NASCAR to help slumping new car sales....... The manufacturers, driven by the buyers & riders (the market), need to be able to do their own marketing. Not the FIM. As Laser1 stated above: "The market decided long ago" that it wanted lighter bikes.... Jimmie

Nice Ride, Shyted!!! Very Nice! Is it a 2014 Racing? You've gotta be over the moon about that bike, Man! Congratulations!!! That kinda trumps what the rest of us have done to our Gassers, hee hee! Jimmie

Man, that's some serious cold goin' on there....... When you need to be dressed like you're ready to rescue Ice Breaker ships in Antarctica, and you have an "inside job", it's pretty cold, I'm thinkin'....... Wow. I have absolutely NO reason to whine...... From where I sit, it's raining, and 35-40 deg (farenheit) outside. I'll make a fire a few hours before we turn in. And then I think I'll pray a prayer of "Thanks!" that we're havin' it pretty good here...... And that was a serious stump/obstacle! Very nice! That was a huge tree! I'm fairly certain I don't have the skill to do that one, but also probably don't have the brains to not try....... All this trials talk kinda makes me wanna go squeeze mah ole clutch lever a few times...... Jimmie

Are you guys getting dumped on with the white stuff, Zippy?It's really cold, from what I understand........ Hope that ends soon..... It's pretty much the majority of the television news I hear...... I rode our Boxing Day Trial (actually held on the 29th of December), and that's the last time my bike got ridden. I've cleaned the air filter, and the bike now awaits a tranny oil change. But kinda like Zippy, Shyted, & others, life has been having to come first. I'm getting a "jump" on next year's firewood, and dumped a 50+ foot tall maple. It's almost all split & stacked...... Next tree I fall will have at least some of it as a trials obstacle. "All firewood & no Trials Obstacles makes Jimmie a dull boy", I believe the old saying goes....... Jimmie

Happy New Year to You, Shyted, and Everybody here! May our Gas Gases give us all many good rides this year! (or at least as good as we're able to give......). Jimmie

Cool! How'd you do, Andrew? I would imagiine there were no problems with mud stopping the front wheel now? Good idea on that, btw. Jimmie

First of all, I apologize to Harveyb & everyone else for going off topic here, sorta...... Lineaway & Axulsuv, do you folks know of anyone here in the States that sells a spare magnet for the Leonelli switches? I can already forsee the day when I forget or lose the one I got with my kill switch, and it'd be nice to have an extra or tow laying around in the tool box...... This is an interesting topic, and kinda brings back memories. My first motorcycle I bought in 1969 (I was13 yrs. old at the time) was a Honda 90, set up for the local Hillclimb competitions there in Oklahoma. It was mandatory back then for all the bikes to have one of these, & I can think of no better reason to have them than hillclimbing crashes. Bike & rider almost never end up in the same place when things go bad in that discipline of motorcycle competitions. Anyway, nobody really made these switches back in 1969, so some "engineering" was required back then. My bike came with a wire from the ignition up the handlebars, and to a set of ignition points (anyone else remember those?) clamped to the bars. There was a short piece of flat plastic, a mm or two thick, between the points contact surfaces. This plastic had a string tether that was tied to the rider's wrist. When the rider's hand/wrist/arm pulled the string, the plastic came out from between the points, the points made contact & completed a circuit, thus grounding the ignition there on the handlebars. It worked well..... I knew if I stayed with this sport long enough, I'd see stuff come back around full circle...... Maybe I should look for a set of points rather than a Leonelli magnet; I dunno which would be easier to find..... Jimmie

Thanks, Richt!!! It's funny ..... No matter what unit of measure I use, I'm stil about 2-3 stones/50+ lbs./22 kilos overweight..... I probably should've asked Santa for a Treadmill, hee hee..... Gary, I forgot to mention above that a fellow in our club is in his early 70s, has had heart surgery of some type, and is still riding events at the Intermediate level (and does very good at them, also.... ). Go for it, my friend! Jimmie

Man, I hope you're not too old, Gary (top ghia)...... If you are, I'm probably ready to sell my bike & take up knitting or some such..... I didn't start riding trials until after I got too beat up from riding mx, enduros, & hare scrambles, at age 55 or 56. I'll be 58 in a month, and plan on riding for many more years. I don't know how many "stones" I am, but I'm defintely overweight, underskilled, and dumber than most of the vegatation I ride over. I still manage to have more than my fair share of fun, which is all I hope for any more. My days of competing to win are long gone; I just want to continue to have fun riding with my good Trials friends. BTW, how much in kilograms or American pounds is a stone? I weigh 225 lbs., and am only 5'10" tall. Shaped kinda like a refrigerator with a head on it, basically...... Jimmie

I actually did a little "research" on this very subject when I rode mx, back in my early 20s. I had just progressed to the "Expert", or "Pro" class, at the Local level. My first few races had me repeating mistakes I hadn't made since my Novice days, having arm pump, & etc.. On the advice of a friend, I once drank 1 bottle of beer before a moto, and rode that race really, really well, and pretty much mistake free. I was relaxed and loose, and that was what was missing in my riding. Once I learned how to do that without the alcohol, my results improved even more. It does work, but I'm not certain I can recommend it for everyone, hee hee.... Now, i'm not saying everyone should go down a quart of beer (or whatever) before a Trials comp. But the advice to "clear the mind", relax & have fun should really be listened to and acted on. The ability to perform without concious effort was a huge help when I shot in practical pistol & speed steel competitions as well. So much of this mental thing is tranferable to all sorts of facets of our lives...... Jimmie

You've just described the TuBliss system, which works very good! I used them on my moto & offroad KTMs. You can run a knobby at low (or no pressure at all, actually....) pressures, and they work really great in mud races. Dylan, are you thinking Bib Mousse? You can drill some holes in those to get them to simulate lower pressures....... Jimmie

Hi, Jon! Hope you guys aren't freezing too much back there, and further hope the earthquake didn't affect you. I also wish OSU would've won the football game against the Sooners, but we can't have everything, huh? Thanks for the advice, Sir! It does indeed amaze me how little these bikes need for suspension work compared to mx/ off road/enduros & such. I've been told by my friends out here to "back away from the wrenches, and just learn to ride the thing first!". Which is also very good advice..... Yes, I do enjoy working on my bike, I confess. But I do enjoy riding even more...... Our temps have been in the teens & twenties, so my rides here on my property have been brief; only 20-30 minutes, or until I no longer have feeling in my fingers..... One thing I just remembered is that I do now have a rebound adjuster again. I managed a "fix" of that while I've had them apart. I've not had one for over a year, and keep forgetting that I have that option again. I don't have "clicks" like I do on my compression side adjuster, but count the number of turns/half turns out from the bottom. Jimmie

Michael, Thank you so much, both for your response just now, and for the one I linked to above. Thank You! Once I pulled my head outta my a$$, it all became pretty clear. Guess I typed & posted first, and then took the time to think..... I normally do use synthetic fluid; Red Line in this case. I actually prefer to run the really light fluid viscosities, in the winter and summer. The lighter fluids all seem to have the higher centistoke ratings, and in my old KTM, they just seemed to stay more consistent & last longer. But the shim stacks in these 'Zokes seem to be meant more for the heavier fluids, like 7.5 wt. or more. If a (Heavy ) person wants to run the thinner fluids, it would seem making a stiffer shim stack would be in order? My rebound stack has (2) 20mm dia. shims X .11mm thick, and a 13mm dia. X .16 thick backer. To use the thinnner fluids, would a slightly bigger diameter backer shim, say, around 16mm, help in that respect? Maybe I should buy another treadmill instead...... Jimmie

Amen! to this, and especially the part about bending your legs! I once posted a video on the Trials forum at Thumpertalk, and those guys there almost unanimously said that I wasn't bending my knees enough. Not bending your knees enough "cheats" you on compression when you put your front wheel into an obstacle, and makes for a much weaker unloading/unweighting. I accidentally deleted my video of me doing it totally wrong. I could probably go make another if it were daylight, because I feel I really dont' do it much better after a year+ of practice. But, if you could post a vid of yourself, taken by someone off to the side, it would probably help these better riders here diagnose it for ya, Charlie. Also, I had problems at first going too fast. I would hit my log many, many times, and thinking if I hit it faster I'd "Get It!". That just didn't work for me. Be patient, and slow down. Plus, by slowing down, you can "break down" & refine each little aspect of the whole technique, and possibly along with video, you can figure out what needs to change. Or, get a ridin' buddy to watch you & help out..... Here's a short vid with nowhere near enough knee bend, but somehow I got over it w/o crashing....: Also, I defintely understand about the knee thing. One of mine has been replaced, and the other will need to be someday. Football, basketball, jogging, & mx were hard on me when I was younger..... Jimmie

Man, what a GREAT Rider that man is!!! I'd be concerned about the ventilation aspect too. I just read an interview with Pat Smage about how he would practice inside his barn in the winter time when he was younger. He said that he spent a little time being sick from breathing the exhaust fumes. I know when I rode mx indoors at one nearby place, I would sometimes come home slightly sick from breathing that junk all night long...... It ain't fun..... Jimmie

I have an area on my little 2.5 acres that's slowly getting made into my practice area. I cleared some more area this weekend. Someday, I hope to import some rocks....... For now, at the level I ride at, I'm still having trouble cleaning some parts of my little practice "section". Any advice will gladly be tried & used! The riding part of this vid was filmed today. We've had a lot of rain, and even more wind. Lost power several times, & etc. I'm guessing more clearing for my practice area will have to wait for slightly better weather..... Jimmie

Hmmm. I ride/hunt off my mtn. bike for deer, in an area with lots of little "goat head" stickers. We all run tubes in our tires, and all of us run Slime inside the tubes. The Slime has been a huge deal for us; It works very well. I've seen some videos for some stuff called Stan's Tire Sealant that seems to be geared more for a tubeless appllication. Geez, their youtube vids show them repeatedly running over beds of nails, poking the sidewalls & tread areas of their tires with sharp, pointy objects, many, many times. All you see are iittle "dots" of sealant where the object got pulled out. Not really sure why this wouldn't work in a tube application? The stuff is kind of expensive, however, last time I checked for it at the local bicycle shop..... Jimmie

My 2010 has magnetic plugs for the drain plug, and the filler plug. Could your magnet have possibly came out of a drain or fill plug? Just look at both plugs to see if a magnet might be missing. I'm not sure how big a 2p coin is, but if it's bigger than what the drain plugs have, I'd bet Lineaway nailed it. Like he said, that's very common for folks to do that, and having chipped my bike's kickstarter & idler gears, it's practically a necessity with Gassers.... Jimmie